Thank You, Romeo Crennel Lard

Douglas LeeNov 26, 2012 8:28 AM

Good Morning, Broncos fans! We've spent the past eight months and six days thanking John Elway, for having turned our Broncos - by virtue of one pair of deft transactions - from self-promoting circus to legit contender characterized by intense professionalism.

Not only did KC have Peyton Hillis attempt a pass to Brady Quinn on third-and-three of their game-opening, Bronco-mauling opening drive, but Romeo doubled down on the stupidity by going for the field goal when the ill-conceived throw failed. It was early four-down territory for the Chiefs, but in a game where Crennel and his players were never, ever thinking ahead, Denver escaped what seemed sure to be a 7-0 deficit.

Romeo's opting to kick on fourth-and-two from the Broncos four-yard line just five minutes later was equally baffling and magnanimous, and for that, we also express our warm appreciation.

But nothing was more perplexing than the Chiefs taking a timeout on fourth-and-six from the Denver 46 - down five points with 6:35 to go - and then compounding that error with the timid decision to punt. It was a clear case of not thinking ahead, which might go something like, "What will we do on fourth down if we fail to convert on third? Do we want to go for it? That should determine what we do here on third down, right?"

To borrow a phrase from Bill Barnwell - Thank you, Romeo Crennel, for not coaching.

San Diego (4-7) blew a 10-0 halftime lead and allowed Baltimore (9-2) a ridiculous conversion on a fourth-and-29 in the closing minutes of regulation on the way to a 16-13 overtime victory for the Ravens. The Chargers have now lost three straight, and six of seven, while Baltimore is riding a four-game winning streak and remains a game ahead of Denver in the AFC standings, but has a brutal stretch run to deal with.

The Broncos will head to Baltimore for a showdown with the Ravens in Week 15, precisely when Baltimore could get Ray Lewis back. It would be a remarkably quick rehabilitation of a torn triceps, but that's nothing new to the Ravens, who saw Terrell Suggs return from his torn Achilles in less than six months.

Denver's magic number for the AFCW title is down to just one, meaning that after the next Broncos victory or Chargers loss, they will have repeated as AFCW Champions for just the third time in franchise history ('77-'78, '86-'87), a fact Woody Paige whiffed on because he was too busy patting himself on the back.

Next Sunday, the Broncos will host the Bucs (6-5), who lost 24-23 in a back-and-forth battle with the Falcons (10-1). San Diego will host the Bengals (6-5), who punished the Raiders (3-8) and former Cincy golden boy Carson Palmer 34-10.

On a side note, seven of Atlanta's wins have come by seven points or fewer, and the three bigger margins have come against the league's worst teams (Chiefs, Chargers, Eagles), so don't be surprised if they go from high seed to early playoff exit yet again.

Dave Krieger says a win at Arrowhead is always welcome, and he correctly lauds Mike McCoy's decisions to throw three times from the Denver two-yard line late in the game, even if the result was a three and out.

Andrew Mason wonders if future opponents will go run-heavy like the Chiefs did, but is JDR really going to counter that with nickel personnel going forward? Doubtful.

In typical Woody Paige fashion, he thinks he's coining a winning nickname by lamely calling these Broncos the Horse Force.

Trimmings

Pittsburgh (6-5) took on the host Browns' (3-8) usual role of hapless, clumsy team, fumbling eight times (losing five) and throwing three picks, for a total of eight turnovers to Cleveland's one. Even with the vast turnover differential, the Browns were only able to win by 20-14, because they are the Browns. There's talk that Ben Roethlisberger could return to action as soon as next week, when the Steelers face the Ravens.

Indianapolis (7-4) remains a game ahead of both Cincy and Pittsburgh in the wild card standings, after they beat the Bills (4-7) 20-13 thanks to two touchdowns from T.Y. Hilton (one receiving, the other on a punt return).

Miami (5-6) scored 17 fourth-quarter points, including a Dan Carpenter FG at the gun, to nip the Seahawks (6-5) by a score of 24-21. Real life imitated that awful Buffalo Wild Wings commercial in the third quarter, when Sun LIfe Stadium's sprinklers were accidentally turned on. Following the game came word that Seattle cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner have been hit with four-game suspensions for PED use.

Although he threw a pick on his first pass and was sacked seven times, Chad Henne again sparked the Jaguars (2-9), this time to a 24-19 win over the Titans (4-7).

Hours after big brother Peyton had passed John Elway on the all-time list for most career victories, Eli Manning broke the Giants franchise record for TD passes, previously owned by the guy who hilariously declared recently that Eli isn't elite.

San Francisco (8-2-1) brought back two pick-sixes on Drew Brees, and Colin Kaepernick ran for one score and threw for another to go 2-0 as a starter, in their 31-21 win over the Saints. Old friend Brodrick Bunkley got himself ejected from the game after he retaliated for an apparent nut shot with a Suh-like kick to the head of Alex Boone, and Mighty Mite Darren Sproles flipped Aldon Smith over his back in impressive fashion.

Jay Cutler made his return from concussion a triumphant one for the Bears (8-3), who whipped the visiting Vikings (6-5) 28-10 in a costly manner, losing several other key players to injury along the way. In typical Jay fashion, he earned an unsportsmanlike penalty by flipping the ball at some defenders after a scramble.

St. Louis (4-6-1) also used two pick-sixes - both from rookie Janoris Jenkins - to knock off the host Cardinals (4-7) in a 31-17 game between teams headed in opposite directions.

As expected, Bill Barnwell finds plenty to laugh at in Romeo's Sunday calls and non-calls, along with the moronity of Dan Dierdorf and Greg Gumbel's claims that Crennel was wise to "play the odds" and keep "momentum" on his side by not maximizing his team's number of points.

In his MMQB column, Peter King says Von Miller and J.J. Watt are equally deserving of being called the league's best defensive player.

The Ultimate Teammate™ has caused such a divide in Jets Land that Fireman Ed, who supported the Sanchize in the QB battle by wearing his jersey, has decided to hang up his helmet. To update the scoreboard, it's Zombies 1, LOLJets 0, and John Elway ∞, Zombies 0. TYJE.

TJ reacts to the Broncos' wild 35-24 comeback victory over the Chargers in Week 6

TYAR

Posted by broncosmontana on 2012-11-26 21:12:54

Ndamukong Suh just earned some more good samaritan/brownie points by kicking at Schaub. He took a stab right at the ol' family jewels. That guy has issues.

Panthers and the Eagles......ho hum....yawn. Not one I'm looking forward to.

Posted by John Tomasik on 2012-11-26 17:38:51

Something that is important to teams making a playoff run is when they peak. I don't think our guys have peaked yet. I think that when a team peaks - their weaknesses have either become irrelevant or no longer exist to the degree they used to.

I look at Atlanta and Houston - and I think that the Falcons may have peaked already and will sputter to the finish line. Houston - this may be a lull that they are getting out of their system - and they will be tougher in a few games.

With 5 games to go - I would like to see us peaking around the time we play Baltimore.

In our run in '96-'97 -'98, in '96 we were looked at as one of the elite teams in the league. Shanny added DE Neil Smith and DT Traxler in '97 to become even better winning the SB as a wildcard team. Then in '98 we were flirting with an unbeaten season ending up with another SB. That is a long time to sustain peak performances to come out on top.

Posted by BlackKnigh on 2012-11-26 16:55:42

Just heard on ESPN he is actually retiring because the fans make fun of him to much! not because the jets suck.

Posted by GreasyQtip on 2012-11-26 16:27:28

While it certainly wasn't the Broncos' best game yesterday, it's better that the Broncos get those lackluster outings out of their system now, against a team that isn't very good. I don't think yesterday's game defines what the Broncos are really like, although it's certainly cause for concern about what happens if the Broncos continue to have such lackluster outings.

But if the Broncos are going to have one of those outings, better to get it out of the way against a bad team. You certainly don't want the Broncos having a lackluster outing against teams like Tampa Bay or Baltimore, which are teams that are fighting for playoff spots, and in which such outings are a greater cause for concern. Or worse yet, to have a lackluster game in the playoffs, in which case your season is very likely done.

I do believe, though, that fans shouldn't assume too much when a good team goes against a weak team. Weren't the Texans to supposed to blow out the Jaguars? Wasn't Charlie Batch supposed to be at least serviceable against a team as bad as the Browns and that the Steelers run game would be Cleveland's undoing?

Simply put, guaranteed victories and guaranteed blowouts just simply don't happen. There will always be weeks in which the unexpected happens. You certainly want your favorite team to be playing its best ball, but you never know what the other team might do or what breaks might go in or against your favor.

Posted by Bob on 2012-11-26 14:21:05

Best part of today's Lard is the use of the infinity symbol. You just don't see that used much in text or print unless you're reading a math text book. The thought of having to analyze an asymptotic equation gives me shudders now. Seeing infinity next to John Elway's name will never get old.

Posted by BroncosFaninNE on 2012-11-26 12:57:27

Denver's tendency to mistakes, especially early in games, could prove fatal to their playoff experience. That said, I still wouldn't bet against this team. The LA Times profile of Manning http://www.latimes.com/sports/... is absolutely on target.

Posted by Doc Bear on 2012-11-26 12:40:47

I can see both sides of the discussion hear, and I'm not sure where I stand on it. On one hand, if you told me 9 months ago that we'd be 8-3 have the AFC West virtually clinched by now I'd be ecstatic, as I'm sure we all would have been. But on the other hand it's clear that during the last three games the offense has not quite been where it needs to be to beat elite teams in the playoffs, at least not in my opinion. I think the conflict comes from the elevated expectations we've taken on during the last 7 weeks; before we were evaluating the team like it's a team that's in the 2nd year of a three year rebuilding plan, whereas now we're evaulating the team as a superbowl contender. And the thing is, this team really is BOTH of those right now.

The thing that makes me confident right now is the sense that this team is professional enough that even if they don't quite match up to the elite teams in the playoffs, they'll at least be competitive, and they'll learn and grow from the experience. I'll take that any day of the week, especially considering the turmoil of the preceding three season's.

Posted by Hercules_Rockefeller on 2012-11-26 12:29:32

I don't think the media is critical of Crennel because he made the wrong call. The media is critcal of Crennel because it's the media's job to be critical of coaches.

Which call between kicking the FG or going for it is right is of no concern to the media. The narative is that everything the losing coach did was wrong.

To the media, if the coach loses, kicking the FG or going for it are BOTH wrong.

Posted by A R on 2012-11-26 12:16:21

You always have to take the points. 4th and inches to go, kick the FG.

If you go for it and fail, John Clayton will bully you forever. Think about it. John Clayton. Will bully you. Forever.

Posted by A R on 2012-11-26 12:12:57

I understand the point you're making, fellas, but the Broncos will need to elevate their overall performance to beat three elite teams in a row in the post season.

KC was playing loose yesterday with nothing to lose and they competed hard, but they're still a bad team who have earned their terrible record. Tampa will be a better gauge to evaluate the state of the team. Maybe Oakland the following week will tell us something as well. The Raiders have allowed 169 points the last four weeks. If the Broncos don't blow them of the field, it could be a cause for concern.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-11-26 11:53:59

Thanks for the correction, Douglas. I have a hard time keeping the 53rd man straight sometimes.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-11-26 11:46:42

TYPB

Posted by A R on 2012-11-26 11:44:03

Pretty cool to have to be complaining about how the Broncos won instead of how they can start winning.

Stay healthy, don't have many Crennel moments, and plan to win out.

Posted by John Tomasik on 2012-11-26 11:26:07

The Broncos are now 8 and 3, having won six in a row. But some folks are concerned about style points. I guess I have two thoughts:

1. It shows how far this team has come in the last few years. Time was that any win was a glorious, and seldom seen, thing.

2. Even the last time the Broncos had the greatest QB on the planet, it wasn't always pretty. I can remember plenty of games when Elway-led teams struggled.

I think you are right, Benjamin. If the Broncos can stay healthy and secure a decent seed in the playoffs, who knows what is possible? Nobody looks unbeatable.

Posted by Alaskan on 2012-11-26 10:09:11

MMQB link added

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2012-11-26 09:45:25

Good teams beat bad teams, even when they bring less than their A game. It's been a long time since I felt so confident about a Broncos team. If we can remain relatively healthy, this is our year to play with house money and take the playoffs by storm. I'm tired of hearing about next year (see Washington Nationals for long-term thinking versus short-term winning). The NFL has evolved into a March Madness tourney feel...get in, get the right match-up and run the table. There's no powerhouse in the NFL right now that we should be afraid of (last year evoked prayer and god simply because we knew we needed luck!), but this year we have the talent, experience and leadership to go as far as we want. Anyway, not a pretty win, but a win nonetheless.

Posted by Benjamin Funderburk on 2012-11-26 09:43:07

Alphonso netted Dan - not Chris, who came back in return for Cassius Vaughn.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2012-11-26 09:38:05

Few Jet fans will miss Fireman Ed. He was really much more popular with the people broadcasting the games than he was with the unwashed masses in the stands.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-11-26 09:37:09

Jacob Hester will be a decent acquisition as a short yardage fullback, but he's too slow to be much of a factor in the running game. He also loses the handle way more than you would like. The guy is really more of a special teams ace than anything else. Signing him really underlines how little value the lesser Gronkowski brings to the Broncos. Quite a bounty we pulled in for the undersized ball of failure called Alphonso Smith.

Moreno played well yesterday, but all of his good games have come against KC. I want to see him perform when we play some good run defenses. Regardless, the running game will be a major weakness the rest of the way. We definitely need to upgrade the backfield and probably the interior line in the off season.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-11-26 09:33:10

You'd think that five seasons in the NFL would thicken your skin. Not so with Cutler. TYJMcD.